Eccentricities
by Nightingale07
Summary: Each of our dear tennis players has their own eccentricities. Why don't we get to know them better, as they progress through their life and love stories? DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis, i wish i do though. But then if i do own PoT, it won't be suitable for ages under 18 years old. So it's probably a good thing that other more sane people owns it...
1. Chapter 1 : A Glimpse of Ryoma

This is my first try in writing a fan-fic, so please give me your feedback. Constructive criticism is very much welcome.

 **A GLIMPSE OF RYOMA**

"Hey! Seishounen! Wake up!"

Echizen Ryoma can feel his baka oyaji shaking his shoulder as he tried to wake him up. The petite pre-teen did his best to move away from the old man disturbing his sleep only to find that he was uncomfortably held down in his seat as he sleep.

"Go away, oyaji..." Ryoma groaned as his father continued to roughly shake the precious sleep out of him.

"We've already landed kid. Move your ass up because we need to get down now." Echizen Nanjirou said without ceasing his attack on the poor boy. Quite honestly, he was enjoying shaking the boy awake, a bit rougher than necessary. It's just really entertaining to annoy his son.

"Ryoma dear, we're already here in Japan. It's time to leave the plane." Ryoma's mother, Echizen Rinko, supplied helpfully.

Only then did Ryoma finally remembered where they are. No wonder his position felt so cramp.

Ryoma lazily opened his cat-like eyes, revealing a beautiful shade of molten gold. He stretched his limbs and turned to frown at his baka oyaji. His sharp eyes already berating his father for shaking him too hard.

"Come on! Move now, move now..." Nanjirou said, diverting his eyes from his son' gaze.

They eventually made it out of the plane and was greeted by Japan's warm air, warmer than America's climate - to which Ryoma is so accustomed.

Ryoma spent most of his life in the US, though he was born in Japan. They migrated to the US back when he was still so young to remember what Japan was like.

And now, out of his father's whim, they were back to Japan once again.

/

Kringggģg!  
Kringggģg!  
Kringggģg!

Ryoma groaned in annoyance at the sound of his alarm clock. It's only been less than a week since they moved back to Japan. And during those days, his family had been really busy with unpacking stuff and arranging the house and all the other drama of relocating, that he still felt bone tired. Add to that the adjustment to time difference and the jet lag.

He simply just didn't want to get up.

But his baka oyaji informed him last night that he signed him up for a local tennis tournament. And that competition is going to be held today!

How considerate of the old man to give him some time to prepare for it. No.

Apparently, it's so he could see the level of some Japanese tennis players around his age that he might face in the future.

 _Whatever_. Ryoma just didn't want to get up right now...

"OY! SEISHOUNEN! ARE YOU AWAKE YET!" Needless to say how annoyed Ryoma was to be startled by his father banging on his door.

"GET UP! GET UP! OR YOU'LL BE LATE FOR YOUR MATCH!" his baka oyaji yelled just outside his room.

' _God! did he have to be so loud so early in the morning_ '

"Shut up, oyaji!" Ryoma begrudgingly left the comfort of his bed and made his way to his bathroom.

After taking a bath, he made his way downstairs and in to the dining room, only to scowl at the sight of his breakfast. Toasted bread with butter, scrambled egg and bacon strips.

"'Kasan, why did you made american food for breakfast!?" Ryoma asked through his scowl, though he tried not to raise his voice with his mother.

"Sorry Ryoma. We don't have the ingredients for a japanese breakfast. Make do for now. I promise to make you one tomorrow." Rinko said, trying to placate her son.

"Whatever." Ryoma murmured. He could just already tell how this day won't be a good day for him.

' _What a pain._ '

/

"Idiots, you don't even know how to properly grip your rackets." A loud boastful voice prevented Ryoma from taking a nap. He was on his way to Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden for a Junior tennis Tournament and was trying to get some sleep during the train ride.

Only to be interrupted by a group of loud boys, who look to be high schoolers.

"If you want to do a top spin, you use the western grip." Came the voice again.

"It's done by holding a racket as if you're going a handshake." What an idiot.

The idiot then swung his racket back and fort nearly hitting a girl sitting beside them. Though the young girl was too intimidated by the older boys to say something about it.

"Ahhh... you're really so cool Sasabe." One guy from the group said with awe.

"Fool... It's common sense." The idiot guy, now named Sasabe, then laughed loudly while he continued his swings.

"Hey!" Ryoma just couldn't take their loud stupidity anymore.  
"You guys are too loud." he said evenly without looking up, his trusted fila cup successfully hiding his face from view.

The group of loud boys turned their attention to the short kid in a red jacket with a white cap on his dark hair, sitting across where they were gathered.  
Their faces showing a mixture of shock and annoyance.

The train suddenly shook as it went though a tunnel. Sasabe dropped his racket, shaking them out of their shocked stance.

"Che, I can't believe I got told off by a grade schooler." Sasabe said while picking up his racket.

"Ping pong~" Ryoma said in a sing song voice, gathering the group's attention once again.  
"Picking a racket from the ground is the correct western grip."

"Wha-" Sasabe tried to say something.  
But Ryoma added, "Oh yeah, The handshake grip you were speaking of is called the eastern grip."

"There are some who mix them up." Ryoma added again without even looking up, completely ignoring their dumbstruck expressions.

He then got up to leave as the train stop.

"Hey you! Wait up!" Sasabe yelled after him but he just continued walking.

/

Ryoma had been walking for some time trying to find the tennis courts.

'Really how hard was it to find something as big as a court?'

Not easy enough, apparently.

He then decided to just asked someone for directions. Ryoma approached a girl with her hair in two long braids.

"Hey, do you know were the Kakinokizaka Tennis garden is?"

The young girl, Ryuusaki Sakuno, had been impatiently waiting for her grandmother, Ryuusaki Sumire, when she got startled by someone talking to her.

Looking up, she was surprised to see that it was the same boy who saved her in the train earlier.

"It's you!" Sakuno blurted out while pointing a finger to the boy's face.

"Eh?" Ryoma wondered what the girl was talking about.

"Ano... thank you for your help at the train earlier." Sakuno bowed in front of the boy while blushing.

"We were on the same train?" Ryoma asked, honestly having no clue what the girl was thanking him for.

"Ehh!? I was sitting across from you..." Sakuno exclaimed then her voice trailed off when she realized that the boy didn't even notice her back in the train.

"So, do you know how to get to the tennis courts?" Ryoma was becoming slightly annoyed by having to repeat his question.

"Right! Kakinokizaka Tennis garden! I am going there too. Are you going to play? This is my first time going to watch a tennis tournament." Sakuno began babbling.

Ryoma could feel one of his eyebrows twitched. "So where is it?" He asked for the third time.

"Ah, ano... just go out of the south exit then go straight."

"Just straight from the south exit. Got it. Thanks." Ryoma muttered before walking off.

/

Ryoma had walked a fair distance when he realized that the girl had given him the wrong directions. Surely if he were going the right way, he would have reached the tennis courts by now.

Asking an older man selling some ice cream by the side of the street, he found out that the tennis garden was on the opposite side of the station. Taking in the distance from where he was to the tennis courts, he wouldn't make it even if he sprinted all the way.

Now truly annoyed that he had to lose his match by default, Ryoma decided to buy some ice cream and leisurely walked his way back.

Surely the ice cream will at least lighten up his mood.

/

Tezuka Kunimitsu wasn't entirely happy with his win. His opponent didn't even bother to show up for their match.

Leaning his tall frame on the wall he was recently hitting with a ball, his attention was suddenly caught by the sound of a game from a nearby court. Out of curiosity, he went to see what was happening.

Kunimitsu was surprised to see a short boy wearing a white baseball cap, rallying a ball between another boy who looked to be a high school student. But the surprising part was that the shorter boy seemed to be having the upper hand in the match.

He watch how the capped boy used a high lob that landed close to the line to over come the height difference between him and the older boy.

Kunimitsu then saw the older boy judged a ball out even when it clearly landed inside the line to prevent the capped boy from hitting more high lob. He had a hard time keeping the annoyance from showing to his ever stoic face when he saw the smug expression of the older player.

He turned his gaze back at the younger boy and he noted that the boy wasn't even fazed at all. He seemed to have more tricks up his sleeves. So Kunimitsu wasn't that surprised when he saw the boy return the ball with another lob. This time however, the ball didn't bounce. Instead, it continued to spin on its place just within the line until it totally stopped.

' _This kid was good_.' He thought to himself.

From there, the boy won game after game without even letting his opponent to score so much as a point. The other player was decidedly furious.

When the capped boy hit another high lob, Kunimitsu saw how the older teen technically threw his racket to the younger's face. The racket hit the kid hard causing him to fall down.

Kunimitsu could feel the anger seeping through his skin at the smug look on the high schooler's face. There was nothing he hated more than those who swing their racket to hurt others.

"Ryoma-kun! Are you alright!?" Kunimitsu heard a young girl screamed as she run to the fallen boy who was now bleeding. She tried to give him a handkerchief which he refused.

"Don't come in to the court during a game." The young boy said to the girl. Kunimitsu felt himself growing a bit of respect for the kid.

The girl then went out of the courts as the boy got up to continue with the game. His gaze followed the girl and only then did he noticed the coach of his tennis team standing on the sideline with the girl.

 _'Did Ryuusaki-sensei know this kid?'_

"You have a terrible grip." He heard the boy said. He seemed calm even after what just happened and in-spite of the blood seeping through the wound in his forehead. His opponent on the other hand looked livid.

The kid then took out a ball from his pocket and bounced it. Once... twice... thrice...

He then threw the ball overhead, bent his knees a little in preparation for a jump.

With his back in arch slightly backwards, he hit the ball with the strength of his upper body propelling it to the other side of the court with amazing speed.

His opponent run towards the ball,

the ball hit the ground,

it spin on its place,

and it bounced,

straight to the high schooler's forehead.

His opponent fell on his butt from the force of the hit.

Kunimitsu's breath hitched. In his mind, he replayed the last couple of moments, from the way the boy bounced the ball, to the execution of the serve, to the way it spin on the ground, and that final moment when it bounced up.

Everything was well executed. Calculated, if he must say.

He had never seen a kid around his age do that serve as flawlessly, or even do that serve at all. He wouldn't have believed it if he had not seen it by his own eye.

A Twist Serve.

A Flawless twist serve.

 _'Who is this kid?'_

 **TBC**


	2. Chapter 2 : Walking Around Down Town

**WALKING AROUND DOWN TOWN**

Fuji Syusuke is just about to be finished with his breakfast when his younger brother made his way downstairs. Syusuke moved his close-eyed gaze to his brother's figure and gave him his signature close-lipped smile.

"Ohayou, Yuuta. Going out early?" Syusuke greeted and inquired about his brother's attire while maintaining his smile.

Yuuta is already dressed to go outside, in his usual tennis gear to be exact- a loose shirt, knee-length shorts, and a pair of tennis shoes.

"Aa, I'm meeting with my teammates at the public courts." Yuuta replied.

"Aren't you eating breakfast first, before you leave?" He asked while reaching for the bottle of _rayu_ (chili oil).

"Aahmm, I-i think we'll be eating on t-the way to the courts, A-aniki." Yuuta stammered, paling considerably at the amount of _rayu_ Syusuke was putting on his omelette.

"Is that so?"

"Aa, ja aniki." Yuuta hastily said his goodbye and high-tailed out of the dining area.

' _Fufufu_ ' Syusuke chuckled at his little brother's reaction.

It is always fun to tease Yuuta. His reactions are always so honest and his expressions are so open that Syusuke couldn' t help but find it entertaining.

After finishing his breakfast, Syusuke went to tend to his cactus.

' _What a nice weather_.' He thought as he looked up to clear sky, his honey-brown hair being swayed by the gentle breeze.

' _Maybe I should go to the public courts as well. It will be nice to have some pictures of Yuuta under this beautiful weather. Fufufu_.'

With that thought, Syusuke prepare to go look after (stalk) his little brother with his camera.

Syusuke had quite some fun taking pictures of his brother. Though he did it secretly and kept his distance from his brother and his group. Yuuta is a little camera shy after all.

He also noticed that Yuuta's tennis had been steadily improving. That made him feel happy for his brother.

Before the match ended, he stealthily leave the courts and decided to take a walk around and maybe capture some more interesting pictures.

It was the last weekend of the spring vacation. In two days time, the first term of his last year in middle school will officially begin. Though that means his brother will have to go back to his own school again, Syusuke can't say that he wasn't looking forward to it. After all, a lot of interesting things happen at school.

Syusuke had been walking around for some time now. He passed through the road by the river and captured a very clear picture of of one of his kohai (underclassman) in the tennis club.

Said kohai was by the bushes on the river side, feeding a fluffy ball of fur through his palms. Syusuke manage to get a good angle of his kohai's blushing face when the little kitty licked his fingers.

Syusuke continued on his walk with a wider smile. Who would have thought that such a scowling face hides a soft person.

/

Momoshiro Takeshi, a junior student of Seishun Gakuen, was enjoying the last weekend before school starts. Oh yes he was enjoying it to his heart's content, until that little boy showed up and tried to stole his special meat bun.

Now, if you should know anything about Momoshiro Takeshi, it's that nothing gets in between his stomach and his food. Except maybe a stoic tennis team captain, or a sadistic tensai (genius) , or a certain senpai (upperclassman) with tendencies of a mad scientist. OK, the exemption list was getting a little longer. But that's why there's no need to add this little brat on the list.

"Look kid I got here first!, that meat bun belongs to me!" Takeshi, or Momo to mostly everyone, told the boy, fiercely.

"I paid for it first! It's mine now!" The brat yelled back as heatedly.

"I was going to pay for it too! You just cut me out! You can't do that you know! You can't!" Momo lectured the kid.

"It's not my fault your too slow, old man, behh." The little stuck his tongue out.

"Why you little brat!" A vein popped on Momo's forehead a the audacity of the kid.

"That's rude, your-"  
"Behh~ whatever old man!" The boy cut him mid-sentence, causing yet another vein to pop.

"This's mine now~" the little boy said in a sing song voice while waving the meat bun up in the air.

"You-" having enough of the kid's antics, Momo grabbed the meat bun from the boy's hand and gave it a decided lick.

"Hah! It mine now. I've marked it. Too bad, too bad." Momo declared with a smug look.

The little boy looked about ready to cry from seeing the older boy lick his meat bun.

"WAAAHH~! You big meanie! PAPAAAA~! BULLYYY~! WAAAHHH~!" The kid cried out, cutting of Momo's victory dance.

"Hey! Hey! I'll pay you back, okay?" Momo tried to pacify the boy.

"WAAAAAHHHH~!"

"Here, here. You can have it!" He tried handing back the meat bun to the boy but it only caused him to cry louder.

"WAAAAHHH~! PAPAAA~!"

"I said you can have it. No need to call your father." Momo looked around to see if the kid's father was close by. The boy took that opportunity to snatch the meat bun from Momo's hand and give his shin a swift kick.

"Ow ow!" Momo bent down to cradle his attacked leg. The little boy took that chance to slap the meat bun on Momo's face then run off still screaming for his Papa.

"What the- youngsters these days. Geeze." Momo tried to shake off the pieces of the meat bun from his face.

The shop owner could only stare dumbfounded at the scene he'd just witnessed while coming back out after getting a new batch of meat buns.

/

Syusuke was having a nice day so far. In addition to the pictures of his brother, he now had pictures of one kohai feeding a cute cat, of another kohai getting slapped with a meat bun, and of his bestfriend with his doubles partner trying to balance a mountain of toothpastes.

He would say that his day was productive so far.

At the moment, Syusuke is resting in the small park near the town center. He was passing time by watching the little kids playing 'soccer' and occasionally snapping some photos.

He was about to take another shot of the kids laughing and rolling in the grass when soft fur brushed along his legs.

He looked down and saw a white fluff running pass between his legs and across the park towards the big Japanese maple tree on the far back. His curiosity picked, Syusuke decided to follow the energetic cat.

As he approached the tree, he saw a small figure laying in between the tree roots. The figure was leaning against the trunk of the tree and appeared to be sleeping, though his face was covered by a tilted white cap. The cat he was following was now comfortably snuggled in the boy's lap.

Having sensed another presence, the cat lifted it's head and looked at Syusuke with wide blue eyes.

The cat looked cuter in that position, Syusuke thought to himself.

At that moment, the wind began to blew harder, causing the fire-colored leaves of the japanese maple tree to fall. It also caused the cap on the sleeping figure's face to fall down.

Syusuke immediately reached for his camera and aimed to take a shot. Such a scene was too ethereal to pass.

The cap revealed a face of a young boy, though he could easily be mistaken as a girl. The boy looked like an angel in his sleep, delicate and peaceful. The streaks of lights passing through the canopy of the tree, created an illusion of a halo when reflected by his emerald tinted dark hair. His fair skin seemed to glow in contrast to the dark trunk of tree. The cat, who appeared to had judged Syusuke as harmless, went back to sleep and only added more innocence in the picture. And the fiery leaves drifting in the air enhanced the magical theme of the whole scene.

After taking a few shots, Syusuke left the boy to his sleep. He walked away while browsing to the photos he had just taken. A picture-perfect example of a serene beauty.

' _I wonder who this boy is._ ' Syusuke couldn't help but smile at the thought of possibly meeting the boy again.

 _'Preferably awake next time.'_

 **TBC**


	3. Chapter 3 : The Seigaku Crew

**THE SEIGAKU CREW**

"Oishi~ hayaku, hayaku!" (Hurry, hurry!) Kikumaru Eiji said to his companion as he skipped/ran his way to the oral care section of the supermarket, with all the energy of a sugar-crazed teen.

Oishi Shuichiro follow hastily behind his hyperactive friend in fear of him accidentally knocking of the display stalls.

It was a beautiful Saturday, and Shuichiro had been dragged by the red-headed teen to the mall to shop for some supplies for the upcoming school year, which will begin the day after tomorrow by the way. But so far, they hadn't gotten any school supplies at all because Eiji kept on getting sidetracked.

First, Eiji had them follow a huge teddy bear mascot on the first floor lobby because it looked like Daigoro (Eiji's teddy bear). They only stopped following it once the red-head was done giving it a good glomp. Then there was pet shop were Eiji decided that he wanted to name all the cute animals in the shop, meaning all the animals. And now, they were in the supermarket because Eiji saw a flier for a toothpaste sale. Which led the teen in a frenzy over all the toothpaste he could have for a cheap price.

It' s not that Shuichiro was complaining about being dragged all around the mall and not even getting what they came here for. He wasn't complaining about being in the mall for almost 4 hours now either. He did like going around and spending time with his doubles partner, but he really wished-

"EIJI!" Crash! Crash!

-that Eiji would be more careful.

"Ha-ha, V! Daijobu, Oishi. Daijobu (I'm alright)." Eiji made a V-sign with his right hand while the other was holding a box of toothpaste. He was wearing a sheepish smile as he looked at his worried doubles partner. Eiji tried to reach for the toothpaste at the top of the shelf by jumping but he accidentally bumped into the shelf causing the stack of toothpaste to fall. He just narrowly escaped from being buried under the pile of toothpaste by doing a little somersault.

"You should be more careful!" Shuichiro berated his doubles partner as he searched him for any sign of injury.

"Look! Look Oishi! It's a strawberry-mint flavor toothpaste. I found it on the top shelf!" The red-head said enthusiastically as he brandished said toothpaste to Shuichiro's face.

"You should have just asked for assistance when you tried to get it. It would have been a lot safer if they get a ladder to reach the top of the shelf. You could have seriously hur-"

"But Oishi~ it was the last one left. And if I went to call the sales person then someone else could have gotten it when I'm gone~" Eiji whined, cutting off his lecture.

"I could've watch over it while you asked for assistance."

"But if someone asked you nicely to have it, you would have let them!"

"Be-"

"Excuse me, please refrain from causing disturbances and messing our display! It's troublesome to have to rearrange them." He was cut off again by an assistant of the supermarket who came after the commotion and was now trying to re-stack the toothpastes back in to the shelf.

"Sumimasen (sorry)" He bowed deeply to the lady and helped her in rearranging the shelf.

"Oishi! Oishi! It's blueberry flavored!" And Eiji ran off again in search of more uniquely flavored toothpaste.

When they finally made it out of the supermarket, Eiji was carrying a paper bag full of toothpaste all in different flavor. While he bought 2, a regular one and a green tea flavored one which he planned to give to Tezuka.

"Hoi! Oishi~ we still need to buy our school supplies, nya! I'm already hungry~" Eiji whine as they made their way across the crowd.

"Don't worry, Eiji. We'll grab some lunch after we buy the supplies that we need."

"Hoi! Hoi!" The way the other teen instantly brighten at the mention of food caused a small smile of amusement to form on Shuichiro's face before it was quickly replaced with worry as said teen started darting towards the bookstore.

"EIJI!"

/

It had been a wonderful day, although it left Kikumaru Eiji positively drained of energy, he still has a huge grin stretched across his face.

 _'Spending the day with Oishi is always fun, nya.'_

They were now on their way home after a day at the mall.

Passing through a public tennis court, Eiji's specially sharp eyes caught a glimpse of something, or someone rather, familiar hiding behind a bush.

"Hoi? Oishi, shhh! Hayaku!" He motioned for his doubles partner to be quiet as he dragged him behind the person that he saw.

"Speed of the ball, increased by 28.32%. Ball control increa-"

"Hoi! Hoi! Inui! What are you doing nya!?" Eiji interrupted the megane (glasses) wearing boy, whose tall frame was crouching behind the bush, from sputtering more data.

"Ah, Eiji, Oishi. I'm just trying to gather new data for the start of the next term." Inui Sadaharu, another member and regular of the Seishun Gakuen tennis club answered evenly. The only indication that he was surprised by the sudden appearance of the doubles pair was the slight widening of his eyes, which were totally hidden by a his pair of thick lenses.

"Hoi? New data? Nya~ from who? From who?" Eiji was practically bouncing in his spot while trying to peak around the bush.

" Shhh! Be quiet Kiku-" Inui tried to warn him but it was to late.

"What are you doing, Inui? Kikumaru? Oishi?" Tezuka Kunimtsu asked his teammates with his usual hard tone.

"Waah! Inui! Nya!, you're stalking Tezuka again! Nya~." Eiji tried his best to hide behind Oishi to avoid Tezuka's glare.

"Eiji!"

"I was not stalking Kikumaru. I was collecting new data as i said earlier." Inui reasoned in front of Tezuka's piercing glare.

"Inui! 40 laps on Monday before our game." Tezuka ordered. " And you two...?" He then shifted his gaze to the doubles pair.

"We were just passing by on our way from the mall when Eiji saw Inui, Tezuka." Oishi explained to his friend.

Tezuka then looked at the bags they were holding and seem to believe Oishi because he didn't assign them any laps. Then again, Oishi is not the kind if person who lies.

"Be sure that you are all ready for our game on Monday, then." Tezuka said before turning to leave after giving all of them a stiff nod.

"Hai, buchou!" The three of them chorused.

Remembering the small tournament in which they were invited on the start of the term made him really excited. Too bad Momo-chan can't go with them.

/

Kaido Kaoru was the making his usual rounds when he saw three of his senpai at the tennis club walking home together.

He tried to go unnoticed by them and continue his run but he should have known that there are only a few things that can escape Kikumaru-senpai's sharp eyes, not to mention the certain data master that was with them.

"Hoi! Hoi! Kaido nya!" Kikumaru-senpai hollered from the other side of the road all the while waving his arms at him.

It's not that Kaido did not like or did not respect his senpai-tachi (upperclassmen), it's just that this scene had happened too many times before in his first year, and it's always too embarrassing to have your name yelled out loud in the public.

The bandana wearing teen tried to hide his blush of embarrassment as the other people passing by turned to look at his direction. He hurriedly made his way to his senpai-tachi, if only to stop his red-headed sempai.

Oishi-senpai was already trying to hold his partner down. He too, seemed to shy down from the attention Kikumaru-senpai was gathering.

"Kaido, the speed of your run has improved 11.3% from the last i time i saw you." Inui-senpai stated as a form of greeting.

"It's nice to see you, Kaido." Oishi-senpai said with his usual kind smile.

"Hoi! How have you been doing, nya!?"

"Fsssssh... Good to see you two senpai-tachi." He said politely.

"We're going to eat at Taka-san's. You should come with us, nya." Kikumaru-senpai all but demanded.

"I can say that your usual run is about to end. It will be better if you stop for refreshment before going back home." Inui-senpai droned out.

"It would be better if you can join us, Kaido." Said Oishi-senpai.

"Fssssh..." As the good kohai that he is, Kaido agreed to join his senpai-tachi.

Kawamura-senpai's place was only a few blocks away from where they had met.

Kawamura Takashi is another member and regular in the Seigaku tennis club. His family owns a sushi restaurant which his father managed personally and which served really good sushi.

The sushi restaurant was a rather cozy and neat place. The four of them made their way inside and saw that there were other costumers already eating inside.

"Saa, minna-san (everyone) it seems like we all have the same idea today." Fuji Syuusuke said with his usual close-eyed smile as he saw who were entering the shop.

"Fujiko!" Kikumaru-senpai literally flew to where Fuji-senpai was sitting and gave him a tight hug/glomp.

Aside from Fuji-senpai, there was also Tezuka-buchou sitting in the counter with Kawamura-senpai behind it, serving sushi to the both of them.

After the customary greetings were exchanged, they all settle down in their seats and ordered their food.

They're halfway on their food when the door opened once again and Momoshiro Takeshi came in.

"Oh, everyone is eating here and i'm not invited. That's not fair ya, not fair yo!" Momo said as if he was whining.

"Fsssh... Baka peach." Kaido replied at his rival's stupid comment.

"What did you say, Mamushi (viper)?" Momo all but yelled back.

"It's nice to see you too, Momo." Fuji-senpai said with a pleasant smile and that's all it took for everything to settle down once again.

They all continued eating with some small food fights, mild food poisonings, and small talks mostly regarding about their game on Monday, in which the baka-peach whined again for not being able to join because he had stupidly sprained his ankle.

"Minna" Tezuka said to gather everyone's attention, "the game is only a minor tournament but i will still not tolerate any slack offs. Yudan sezu nii ikou (Don't let your guard down)."

"Hai buchou!" They all said together.

"Ah, not fair ya, not fair yo."

 **TBC**


	4. Chapter 4 : The First Day

**THE FIRST DAY**

"Meooow! Meooow!"

"Stop it, Karupin!" Ryoma tried to push his beloved cat away from his face and go back to sleep.

"Meooow~~~" Karupin gave a long decided meow, trying to get her master to finally get out of bed. Today was the first day of school and her master had already slept through the third ring of his alarm clock.

~RIIIIINGGG~~~ RIIIIINGGG~~~

And now the clock was ringing for the forth time.

"Meow..."

Ryoma gave a small groan and stretch out his arm to turn off the alarm clock.

Karupin decided at that moment that she needed to do something in order to save her master from being late on his first day. With one last mewl at her master, she jumped up to the bedside table and kicked the poor alarm clock down.

~CRASHHH!~

The resulting crash was enough to make Ryoma sit up. He was about to lecture Karupin for breaking the alarm clock until he noticed the time recorded on its broken face-

7:45 a.m.

15 minutes before the start of first period.

Damn!

He quickly jumped out of bed, only to have his legs tangled on the blanket and fell face down on the floor.

Double damn!

Karupin had never seen anyone moved as fast as her master in the morning, when his going late, that is.

/

Ryoma's mood kept on getting darker with every minute. This day was just one annoying thing after another and it just kept on getting worse.

Well, he really couldn't expect much of today when the first thing he did after waking up was kiss the floor. That was quickly followed by a cold shower because his father had forgotten to turn on the water heater.

He then had to run (sprint really) his way to school where every boring period began with him having to introduce himself. And his classmates kept on asking him things about himself and about America. Really, do they have to be so nosy? And didn't they watch any American movie? It's not like there's much of a different between Japan and America.

And when he thought that he can finally catch on some sleep during his English class, his teacher just have to keep on calling him to answer stupid questions.

Do they really teach verb conjugations on middle school students? That's so elementary. Thankfully, the teacher stopped calling him after the third question. He was able to get some sleep after that, but the next period was hell. It's not that he was bad at Math, it was really easy for him actually. But the teacher kept on shouting at everyone and everything that he wasn't even able to get a single wink of sleep.

As if sitting next to a loud-mouthed, uni-browed boy who bragged about everything wasn't bad enough. He even had to line up in the noisy cafeteria because he forgot his bento (packed lunch) on his haste earlier.

Now, on his way to the tennis courts for club registrations, after classes, said loud-mouthed uni-brow was calling out to him.

"You're Echizen from my class, right?" The boy said once he caught up to him, shouted was the right verb really.

"Hn."

"Are you joining the tennis club, too?"

"Aa, who are you?"

"I'm Horio. This school is famous for its tennis club. There are a lot of strong players here. You know, even though i look like this, i have two years of tennis experience. I also went to a tennis school before. Becoming a regular isn't a dream for me..." Blah blah... The boy- Horio, kept on bragging as they walked but Ryoma had already zoned him out. He had no plans on adding his annoying monologue about his two years of tennis experience to the list of annoying things he had to go through today when he himself had been playing tennis since he was two years old.

Ryoma continued walking until he nearly bumped into something that's blocking the way. Annoying.

"Oops. If you don't look where you're going, you'll bump into someone." The other person said.

To say that Ryoma was pissed wouldn't really sum it up. Especially when he had to strain himself just to look up to the offending person. He tried to glare the person down (/up) in order to communicate just how much annoyance he felt at that moment.

"That's a big bag you're carrying." The person seemed to only notice his glare then. His purple eyes met with Ryoma's own golden set.

"I don't like your look." The purple-eyed boy then said.

Horio, who was right beside Ryoma, seemed to want to take a pee from the tension between the two who were still staring at each other's eyes.

But surprisingly, the taller boy was the one who broke off the tension.

"But since you look like a freshman, I'll ignore it this time." He said with a carefree tone. "Look in front of you when you walk, in front." He added as he left them.

"What's with him?" Horio asked.

Ryoma ignored him and just continued walking towards the courts.

/

Momoshiro made his way to Ryuuzaki-sensei's office, still thinking about that freshman he nearly bump into. Good thing he didn't, the kid was really short, he swore he would have sent him to the ground, on his ass too, if they truly collided. Though that would have been funny, he'd probably receive more than just a glare from the kid if that happened.

The glare is another thing to. What kind of kohai would glare daggers at his senpai?

 _'You don't do that ya, you don't. Kids these days.'_

Momo entered Ryuuzaki-sensei's office and found her sitting by her table. The tennis coach's office has a set of huge windows overlooking the court from where the old woman often watch the club members practice.

"Yo sensei."

"Momo." Sensei acknowledged his entrance. "Didn't you learn how to knock?" She lightly chided him.

Momo laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. "Gomen, gomen (sorry). How's the matches, sensei (teacher)?" He inquired about the small tournament the others were joining today.

"Still bitter about sitting this one out?" Ryuuzaki-sensei teased him.

"Of course not." He tried to deny, but he sounded less convincing than he wanted to.

"If you say so. Well, the game went fine. They won every match. But, of course, it was just a minor tournament so it was nothing to brag about. Ho ho ho~." Ryuuzaki-sensei was clearly bragging, alright.

At that moment something, or rather someone, in the courts caught Momo's attention.

Arai, another junior member of the tennis club, and one of his friends were messing with a few freshmen on one of the courts. But what really caught his attention was the kid leaning on the metal fence. It was the golden-eyes kid from earlier, such unique eye color. He was watching the event play out with a cool, almost cold, expression.

"That's Echizen Ryoma." Ryuuzaki-sensei suddenly said, startling Momo from watching the kid.

"Who?"

"Echizen Ryoma. The kid leaning against the fence." Sensei explained.

"You know him?" Momo asked, suddenly interested.

"Well, it would be better for YOU to know him. His one of the few who could perform the twist serve perfectly."

"Twist serve, eh? His good then?"

"Why don't you find out? I bet his bored right now."

Momo looked back at the courts just in time to see the boy serve and hit what seemed to be a can directly.

"Heh, i guess i will, then." Such ball control. He was really interested now.

/

There was no club activity today. The one thing Ryoma was looking forward to in this annoying day was cancelled. And to top it all off, there were two upperclassmen, juniors by the looks of it,one wearing a green headband and another wearing a blue overall jumpsuit, that tried to con some other freshmen into paying them money through a game that involves hitting a can by serving a ball. And they wanted to make him fall for it, too.

Idiots.

"You can't knock it down if you went directly at the can." Ryoma tried to explain to the three other freshmen who failed at the game. But they all looked more clueless than ever.

"What are you talking about?" One of the juniors, the one wearing a green headband, asked. Though he appeared to know exactly what he was talking about.

"There are rocks in there, right?" Ryoma stated more than asked. And before any of the two could answer, he served and hit the top of the can.

"Awesome, he hit the top of the can with pinpoint accuracy." Horio exclaimed from the sideline.

The can fell open and the stones spilled from inside it. They all stared at it in silence for some time, then-

"Ahhh, senpai-tachi are cheating! That's dirty!" Horio shouted.

"Uruse (shut up)! What does a freshman know!?" The one with the overall shouted back, causing Horio to shrank back.

"Damn brat, he shouldn't have done that." The other junior muttered.

~Clank~

Ryoma served another ball.

~Clank~

Then another.

~Clank Clank Clank~

He served one ball after another, all hitting the can directly. All the others can do was stare at the can.

"If i hit it 100 times, are you going to give me ¥1 000 000?" Ryoma asked. If he's going to do this kind of boring thing, he should at least receive some compensation.

He then kept on hitting the can.

"Bastard." The juniors said while gritting their teeth together.

"How can you use that tone to a junior?" The headband guy said.

"Just because you were born a year earlier, doesn't justify you doing something like this." Ryoma told them bluntly. In Ryoma's book, respect is something you earn and not something you were born with.

The two juniors were clearly getting angry with him. But before they could do anything, a ball came flying by, hitting the can with so much force that it was crashed.

/

~CLANK!~

The can gave a loud crash as it caved in from the strength of Momo's serve and hit the metal fence.

"Oh, i hit it. Lucky~!" He tried to make the event funny and looked at Echizen while lightly laughing but the freshman just rolled his eyes at Momo.

Momo came just in time to prevent Arai from making the situation worse and creating more trouble.

"Oi, oi, Arai. Just because the seniors aren't here doesn't mean you can bully the new freshmen. You really shouldn't." Momo's carefree demeanor turned serious, borderline strict, when he turned to the other juniors.

The two juniors felt themselves start to get nervous from Momo's tone.

"Momo, something came up, so I'm leaving first." Arai immediately made his exit, quickly followed by his cronie.

Echizen was about to leave to but Momo stopped him.

"Oi, who said you can go?" Momo asked with a light tone once the freshman looked back at him.

Their staring match was broken this time by a pair of girls that approached the court, closely followed by two adults, a man and a woman.

"Yup, it's Ryoma-kun." The girl with two braids affirmed to the other girl with two pigtails. Both girls appeared to be freshmen as well.

"Haah, so cool..." The girl with the pigtails appeared to be swooning already. "Sakuno, who is he? Introduce him!" She added excitedly, turning to the girl with braids- Sakuno.

"Oh, it's Echizen Ryoma-kun." Sakuno answered.

"Echizen... Ryoma..." The man muttered behind the two girls, as if he found the name familiar.

"Ehhh~ so you're really Echizen Ryoma." Momo intoned. The boy seemed really famous now. Well, Ryuuzaki-ba'san did say that he knew how to perform a twist serve.  
"Though you're really much smaller up close." The boy turned to him then with another glare.

"Who are you?" Echizen asked back with a bored tone, but clearly annoyed.

"Momoshiro Takeshi, sophomore. I heard from ba'san (old women) that you can use the twist serve." Momo stated.

This statement shocked the others around them which knew about the serve. The others who didn't know were more curious of their reactions.

"What of it?" Echizen replied with a slight smirk and challenge clearly written on his eyes.

"I'll crush it." Momo answered the challenge evenly, "Have to do it before you start to bud."

 **TBC**


	5. Chapter 5 : Show Me!

**SHOW ME!**

Momoshiro stand on one side of the court facing Echizen who is about to serve. He can already feel the excitement vibrating in his blood in anticipation of the younger boy's serve- twist serve. Since he was made to sit out on the tournament today, there is a lot of built up tension inside of Momo right now.

Perhaps he really was bitter about it.

Echizen tossed the ball in the air,

Momo tensed in preparation for the hit,

Echizen hit the ball,

The serve was a fast one, before Momo could even make a step, the ball already landed on the court. But that was mostly because he was waiting for the twist serve and the other boy decided to serve a slice instead.

"Fault!"

What a cheeky brat. Good thing it was out.

"I don't like slice serves. Don't hold back on me." Momo pointed his racquet across the court to the boy's face in a challenge after the serve had been announced fault.

"Yadda." Echizen answered curtly.

"Arrogant brat." Momo can't help muttering to himself.

The brat begun bouncing the ball, he then threw it up and jumped, sending an overhead serve towards Momo's side of the court. The ball has a different and faster spin this time.

Momo moved to return the ball, but as it hit the ground it bounced off fast at a sharp angle. Thanks to his body's fast reflexes, he barely avoided being hit by the ball. Instead, the ball hit the handle of his racquet with such force that I flew out of his hand.

"Twist serve...Unbelievable."

Momo was brought out of his stunned state by the surprised mutter of one of the spectator. The middle aged man, who is probably just as stunned as Momo, is a reporter from the sports magazine 'Monthly Pro Tennis' and occasionally visits Seigaku to look at their tennis club.

' _Twist serve_.' Momo felt his heart jolt both from shock and excitement. So the brat can really execute a twist serve. Things have gotten really interesting.

Of course Momo had heard from Ryusaki-sensei that Echizen Ryoma can do the serve, but it wasn't easy to just believe that. Not just because of his figure, but because Momo had never heard of anyone in the current tennis circuit of Junior High students who can do it.

"How scary~ you caught me off guard." Momo said, bending down to pick his racquet.

"You alright? You're sweating." Momo looked up from picking his racquet to see a slow taunting smile forming on the brat's face. He can feel his brow twitch at the brat's words and expression.

' _Bastard. What a tricky serve. Looks like I have to go at it before it bounced.'_

The next serve, Momo run to the net just as the ball was hit. He swung his racquet and managed to hit the ball before it bounced only for it to hit the net.

"30-0. Echizen leads."

"Looks like I can't return it with timing alone. Omoshiroi~ (interesting)." Momoshiro is already pumped up from the prospect of properly returning the serve.

/

' _Hmm_ ~' Ryoma hummed to himself. He thought his opponent was nothing but a big goof but he had actually managed to hit Ryoma's twist serve on his second try. Granted, the ball hit the net, but that he still did better than most who could only receive it with their face.

' _And his right foot even seemed to be injured_.' He mused. Ryoma noticed that the tall second year, Momo as he preferred to be called, seemed to be favoring his right foot while he was running to receive the ball.

"Looks like I can't return it with timing alone. Omoshiroi~" He heard the other said while stroking spiky hair.

"30-0. Echizen leads."

Ryoma went back to his position in the service line. He once again executed a twist serve just to see what the Junior will do.

Both of them run towards the net this time. As Momo reached the ball, Ryoma noticed that he bent his knees a little this time. His timing was still a bit off and the ball still touched the net but it went in this time. And because ball was intercepted by the net, Ryoma wasn't able to reach it on time.

"Lucky~" Momo sang.

"30-15"

Ryoma ones again used a twist serve to see if the older boy can really return it and that wasn't just a fluke.

Momo hit it perfectly this time. Their audience were all shock, but unlike them Ryoma already anticipated this and was ready to return the hit.

Though surprised Momo was able to hit back Ryoma's return near the baseline.

' _Got you._ ' Ryoma thought as he hit the ball.

/

Seeing the freshman hit the ball, Momo tried to run towards the net. Tried, because at that moment, his injured ankle cramped and fell on his ass just as the ball landed on his court.

Drop Valley...

"Hey, you can't do that." Momo complained, still sat on the court. Cheeky brat, pulling that one on him.

"40-15"

' _Damn_.' He let their play dragged on too long. He has to end it quick before his injury get worse or buchou will definitely punish him.

"Mada mada dane." Momo heard the younger boy said just as he switch his racquet to his left hand. Surprised, only then did Momo notice the wristband on Echizen's left arm.

' _This is bad._ '

Echizen took a ball from his pocket and prepare to serve with his left hand.

"Chotto (wait). I quit." Momo declared raising his hand. He could hear their audience's surprised complained but he really has to end the game before he damages his healing foot again.

"I'll let you go for now." Acting nonchalant, he told his opponent who was staring at him intently.

"Whatever." The boy just said before turning his back on him.

' _So uncute.'_

 _/_

Ryoma can swear his ears are still ringing from being hounded with questions by two other freshmen, which he mentally dubbed as the loudmouth pair. He had managed to escape the two, there were five freshmen actually but those two were exceptionally annoying, by using his racquet bag as a shield then running away.

Now that Ryoma can think more peacefully, it did seem that the girl with long braids, who had introduced him to the loudmouthed girl with pigtails, is familiar to him.

 _'Ah._ ' Finally remembering that it was the same girl that caused him to lose his match by default by giving him the wrong direction, Ryoma made a mental note to never ask her for directions again.

 _'What was her name again?'_ Ryoma tried to remember. After thinking for a few moments and still coming up with nothing, he just concluded that it doesn't matter.

Momoshiro Takeshi on the other hand, well, let's just say that he got Ryoma a bit interested. Since he returned the twist serve after seeing it just once, he must be a decent player. Better than most Ryoma had face before, at least.

Ryoma would never admit it out loud, but he was a bit disappointed that their match ended prematurely. It has been a while since he had faced a decent opponent after all. But he also knows the risks of carelessly playing with an injury so it's not like he couldn't understand why Momoshiro had to forfeit.

Still understanding it doesn't mean that he has to like it.

So, if you look really closely, you might find that Ryoma was actually sulking on his way home. But he will never admit that out loud either. Never.

 **TBC**


	6. Chapter 6 : Disturbance

**DISTURBANCE**

Tezuka Kunimitsu had just arrived home after a long tiring day. Though, he was quite happy that his team had won today's tournament without much of a struggle, that still didn't change the fact that today had been tiring. And it was just a minor tournament too, mostly against unseeded schools.

Though Kunimitsu will never be boastful, he did take pride in his team. Even when Kikumaru doesn't know how to sit still and be quite, even when Inui seems to find a hobby of stalking him, even when Oishi worries about almost everything, even when Fuji always finds a some way to get back for his punishment, and even when Kaido and Momoshiro can't spend a minute together without fighting, he is proud of his team. For their dedication in tennis at least.

Be that as it may, Kunimitsu will never allow his team to get careless. That is why, even when it was just a minor tournament, they still made sure to practice diligently during the spring break. But as much as they practiced, Kunimitsu can't help but feel like his team is bordering on a stagnant state, like some water stored in a dam. When they first form the team, they were like wild ocean water with crashing waves lashing out on their opponents, like when you first built the dam and the flow of the water came surging in with such amazing strength.

Now that the dam was fully built and sturdy, that power seemed to settle down as well, becoming just ripples on the surface. Though, he knows that that power was not gone but simply lying down in the bottom of the dam and that with enough disturbance, they will surely unleash powerful waves again.

What Kunimitsu really worries about is if such a disturbance will ever come.

/

Tuesday morning, the second day of the first semester, five students of Seishun Gakuen can be found talking just outside the said school's gate. Though that in itself is not unusual, what was interesting was the topic of their conversation.

"Echizen Ryoma?" Inui asked curiously.

"Have you heard of him?" Oishi questioned Inui, it was rare for a first year to be the topic of their conversation. And it was only the second day of class too.

"Iie. (no)" Well, that's even rarer. For Inui to not know something that is, Oishi thought.

"From what Momo told me, it seemed that his not an ordinary freshman." Fuji intoned. He had met Momoshiro in the burger joint on his way home yesterday and the second year looked a bit happier for someone who was ordered to sit out from the tournament. To be honest, Fuji was expecting him to be sulking. It turned out that Momo played a freshman who is quite talented and that had lifted his spirit. He told Fuji about their short match and that made Fuji certainly interested.

' _Twist serve, ka._ ' Fuji thought, smiling to himself.

"Well, if he said so, then it must be true." Kikumaru added halfheartedly.

"If that's the case, we should be thankful." Oishi agreed as well. It will be beneficial for the team to have more talented underclassmen especially since most of the regulars will be graduating this school year.

"We'll see..." Fuji said as they entered the school gate and made their way to the tennis courts for the morning practice.

/

Ryoma had to get up early in order to register for the tennis club and attend their morning practice. Though he was not a morning person, he had managed to drag himself out of bed somehow and he is now sitting beside the court sleepily tying his shoes.

The other freshmen around him, the same three that he met yesterday, but he forgot their names, are chatting about one thing or another. He is getting good at tuning them out.

"Echizen! Are you listening?" the loudmouthed boy with a single eyebrow asked him.

"Not really." Ryoma answered truthfully. The uni-browed boy frowned at him for his bluntness. He then started bragging again about something nonsense.

"Do you guys know about the ranking tournaments... blah...blah...blah." Ryoma didn't bother to listen to the loudmouth brag for long and started to walk away since the loudmouth was starting to gather a lot of attention from the other freshmen.

"Sugoi (amazing), you're really knowledgeable." He caught one of the freshmen said as he left.

' _Some people know nothing but useless info._ ' Ryoma's thought was interrupted by a shadow blocking his way.

"Oi! Are you the sugoi ichinen (super freshmen)?" He had to crane his neck to look at the one asking him. It really annoyed Ryoma to always have to look up on people because of his height.

"Sugoi Ichinen?" _Sugoi?_... "Ah! There." Ryoma came to a realization and pointed to the uni-browed boy wearing a bright green shirt.

"That guy? I see, he does stand out with that colorful outfit." The tall boy replied then went to approach the indicated freshman. Ryoma then continued to walk away.

/

Morning practice was boring to say the least.

And to top it all, he seemed to have acquired the hatred of some of his senpai-tachi. Really, it's not that he was purposely disrespecting them. It is just not in his personality to go out of his way to express respect for others especially when they have done nothing to deserve it. Just because they were born a year or two earlier didn't mean that Ryoma will prostrate himself over them. Back in America, that amount of age difference didn't matter much anyway, if at all.

But it can't be helped that people in Japan will find him blunt and disrespectful because they seem to be stricter about manners than people in America.

Ryoma just hope that if they have a problem with him that they decide to solve it in the courts.

/

It was time for the afternoon club activities.  
Ryuusaki-sensei and Oishi had just left after talking with Kunimitsu about the up coming ranking tournaments. Right now, Kunimitsu watches the club practice from his classroom window. Or maybe it will be more accurate to say that he watches a certain freshman on the club.

It was the same boy that he saw when he was at the tennis garden for the under 16 tournament. The boy that had executed a perfect twist serve and totally trashed his opponent who seemed to be a high school student.

It is also the same freshman that Ryuusaki-sensei was pertaining to earlier.

 _-_  
 _"How is it Tezuka? Found a way to divide it evenly into 4 blocks yet? This ranking match will be like determining the regular members for the district tournament." Ryuusaku-sensei asked as Kunimitsu tried to decide what to do with the blocks. It was the first time he has to do this task as the captain of the club._

 _The ranking tournament is the method used by the Seigaku tennis club in order to choose the regular members of the team who will participate in inter-schools tennis competitions. The participants will be divided into four blocks and the members of the block will have a match against each other. The two players who stand on top of their block will be part of the regulars. There will be eight regulars in the team._

 _"Must be hard." The coach intoned._

 _"Ah." Kunimitsu said as he tapped his pen on his desk._

 _"I hear Ryuusaki-sensei has someone in mind... Like one of the freshmen." Oishi, the vice-captain of the tennis club, casually said. As if he just remembered it._

 _To which Ryuusaki-sensei quickly added,_  
 _"It doesn't matter what I think... Basically our freshmen can't play in a ranking match until the summer." She drawled out. Kunimitsu could actually hear the trace of a smile in her tone._

 _"Ahh, that depends on the captain I, guess." Oishi quickly followed._  
 _There seems to be some conspiracy between the two._

 _Kunimitsu can feel a tick forming on one of his brow. If they have something in mind, why don't they just say it directly and save him all the trouble? Is that too much to ask?_

Kunimitsu nearly sighed at the antics of his friend and their coach earlier.

Looking back at the boy, he appeared to be just like another freshman. He did what the other freshmen did - picking balls, doing laps, practicing swings, and doing push-ups and sit-ups. If you didn't know better you won't be able to single him out from the the rest of the batch. But Kunimitsu knew better. So he knew that the boy is special. And he knows Ryuusaki-sensei did too since he saw him with the boy that time.

Keeping his eyes on the boy, he noticed how the boy wasn't even fazed by the number of laps they did when the others were dying to catch their breaths.

Kunimitsu then saw the other regulars enter the courts and he decided that it was about time that he go down for practice.

/

He made it to the tennis courts in time to see Arai holding the freshman by the collar of his shirt and seems to be picking a fight.

' _Really, I took my eyes of him for a moment and I found him in trouble already.'_ He thought looking from Arai's angry face to the freshman's bored one.

"What are you arguing about on the courts?" He chose to say instead of sighing.

Arai immediately released his hold on the boy and looked at Kunimitsu with a little fear.

"Buchou!" The rest of the club greeted as they bowed to their captain.

"Penalty for causing a disturbance, both of you run 10 laps around the courts."

"Cho- chotto matte..." Arai stuttered.

"20 laps." Kunimitsu said more firmly this time, with a matching glare.

"Hai." Arai answered, completely scared now.  
The boy on the other hand just lowered the brim of his cup even more and began his laps. But not before Kunimitsu saw that he still wore that bored expression.

He then started giving out orders for the rest of the team. After that, Oishi ushered him out to talk, no doubt about a certain freshman.

"Have you decided, Tezuka?" Oishi asked once they are far enough from the others.

"Not yet." Kunimitsu knows that Oishi was talking about whether he will let the freshman participate on the rankings or not.

"Did you know that he played against Momo yesterday?"

"No." That information got him curious.

"Ahh, Fuji said that according to Momo, the boy really good and can even do the twist serve."

"..." Kunimitsu knew that already but he preferred to stay quiet.

"I also heard accounts of his skills from Ryuusaki-sensei. And I think I saw a glimpse of what he can do earlier." Oishi said with a small smile.

Kunimitsu still remained quiet. Honestly, he already saw more than what Oishi had seen earlier. He himself was already convinced by the boy's skills and saw a lot of potential in him. What has him double think however was how the upperclassmen would react if he let the boy participate in the rankings.

He knew first hand how jealousy could make people act. And he didn't want the boy to go through what happened to him.

"Echizen Ryoma... He might just be what we are looking for, Tezuka. Give it a try." Oishi said, almost wistfully.

"Hn."

 _'Can it really be him? The disturbance that will make us break through our limits?'_ Kunimitsu mulled over this thought as he walked back to the courts.

 **TBC**


	7. Chapter 7 : Court Jealousy

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

 **COURT JEALOUSY**

"Damn! That capped brat better remember this!" Arai Masahashi, a junior member of Seigaku tennis club, is seething and he's not even trying to hide it.

Because of that freshman brat, Echizen Ryoma, Masahashi is now on Momoshiro's bad side for that little fun they chose to have yesterday when the regulars were away. It was just some entertainment for Masahashi and his friends to see those newbies flailing with their racquets, and if they made a bit of money for it, then that's much better. But the brat was such a show off that he had to reveal the trick behind the can and turn Momoshiro against Arai.

And now even Tezuka-buchuo is on him, ordering him to run 20 laps as punishment because of that damned brat.

"Too bad~" one of Masahashi 's friend snickered. He instantly shut up though, once Arai glared at him.

Echizen Ryoma is really getting on his nerves. The way he flaunted his tennis like he did a while ago, smashing Oishi-senpai's misaimed ball into the basket as precisely as the regulars were doing and acting all haughty about it like it was so easy. It made Masahashi want to bring down and humiliate the arrogant brat.

Masahashi is a diligent member of the club. All things aside, he worked hard and practiced every day to improve his tennis. Though he knew that he is not in the same level as the current regulars, he also knew that he is better than most of the non-regular members. He wanted to gain a spot as a regular on the team in the upcoming ranking tournament but if the brat will participate as well, then his chances will diminish even more. That is why he needed to bring the damned brat down as early as possible.

He glared daggers at Echizen's back after their laps and saw his opportunity. The brat even brought three tennis racquets to practice though all the freshmen have to do are basic exercises and picking up balls.

'Let's see how he can play tennis when all his racquets disappeared.' Masahashi thought with a dark smile. He could clearly see how he will humiliate the boy in front of everyone, especially the regulars.

"Lend me your ears for a second." He called to his two friends.

/

Ryoma had just finished running his twenty laps and came to join the other freshmen practicing their swings. There was just a bit of a problem though, he couldn't find his racquets. He was sure he left them in the bench before he did his punishment laps, but now they are nowhere in sight.

"What happened? Did you forget your racquets?" the loudmouthed freshman asked after he saw him looking around.

And as if on cue, the three juniors from earlier appeared with smug faces.

"You're pretty confident to come to practice without your racquet." The one with the headband, he thinks he is called Akai, Araki or something, called out.

"You think you don't need basic training?"

"But he's the 'Heralded Freshman'." Arai's lackeys goaded him more. The jeers were enough for Ryoma to know who were responsible for his missing racquets.

"If you're so confident, why don't we have a match right now? But if you don't have a racquet…" Arai dared him, one of his friends handing him an old and ratty racquet from the sideline.

"Here take this extra one." The junior threw the old racquet to him, its strings barely holding on its wooden frame.

The other freshmen were crowding around them now. Three of them recognized the racquet as the one being stepped around in the locker room. It was in such a shabby state that it can hardly be useful.

"What's wrong? Won't you face me, Heralded Freshman?" Ryoma can practically see the waves of smugness rolling off the junior's body as he said those words.

"That racquet fits you perfectly. Learn from this and never show off again! Who knows, if you do, you might just see your three precious racquets again." If Ryoma wasn't sure before that they are the culprits, he definitely loss all doubts remaining in his mind after he heard that from Arai.

He really dislikes people who use such dirty and underhanded tricks to make up for their lack of talent. Their laughter surely grated on his nerves.

'My racquets better be unharmed.' Ryoma thought while glaring at the three laughing juniors. His favorite racquet is in there too.

"Oi Echizen, where are you going?" Unibrow asked as he walked in to the court.

"There are some who play tricks… because they're weak." He said loud enough for everyone to hear. He'll show these idiots.

/

"Hmm… I want to see more of this." Fuji Syuusuke said with his ever present smile.

"I knew you were going to say that." Kikumaru Eiji mumbled behind him with an accompanying pout. Syuusuke could only smile even more.

In truth he was having a really good day. Today had been nothing short of interesting for him. First there was the talk of that intriguing freshman this morning that never left his thoughts for the whole day. Then he came to afternoon practice to find that said intriguing freshman was none other than the ethereal beauty he found sleeping in the park the other day. Syuusuke had really wished could to see him again but he could have never hoped for a better way than this.

Echizen Ryoma… for him to show up as a new member in the tennis club means that Syuusuke can see him more often and that he can have more chances to get close to him. Aside from that, he seems to have some serious war potential.

"There are some who play tricks… because they're weak." Syuusuke's smile turned into something more of a grin after hearing Echizen say that.

"What? Are you saying I hid them?" he was laughing in his mind because Arai couldn't have been more obvious after saying that.

'So they did hide Echizen's racquets. I can't let them off easily from bullying their _kohai_ (underclassman) now, can I? Fufu'

"Who knows? Come, let's play." Echizen called to Arai with hard eyes. The junior couldn't help but gulp after meeting that look.

'Such fierce eyes' Syuusuke thought.

"You're too confident. I will completely crush you." Arai bravely proclaimed, or as bravely as he can anyway.

'I doubt that.' Syuusuke answered in his head as he heard some people around him comment on how victory already belonged to Arai.

Syuusuke focused his eyes on Echizen, following every movement of that lithe body. He noticed how there was no hint on tension in boy's form even after his first return hit the net and the next one went out of bounds.

"No use, you can't hit it normally."

"You're right."

He heard the respective comments from Eiji and Inui beside him but his attention still remained solely on Echizen.

"Hmm… with that gut you really can't put spin in the ball." He remarked to his friends but he also observed Echizen testing the strings of the racquet. He observed that tiny smirked that appeared on those lips as though the boy had it all figured out.

So, he wasn't surprise when the next return landed on Arai's court in the blink of an eye. Though, the same couldn't be said about the junior and most of the spectators. A lot of jaws could be picked up from the ground after that return ace.

"Oh, he put a spin on it by rotating his body." Eiji figured out.

"He's good, ne." Syusuke said, with only a hint of being impressed in his voice. He smiled.

"No way, he returned it with that piece of junk?!"

"Maybe it's not that old?"

"That's not true. The sound of the impact was really weird."

"But he returned the ball really fast." he smiled more with the unbelieving comments he heard from Arai's lackeys.

"That was slow." Echizen said, probably having heard the comments too.

'Fufufu, slow huh?' Syuusuke thought, amused.

"Shut up! Just because you've returned one ball." it seems Arai is the one losing his temper now, and on the verge of total humiliation.

"A great calligrapher does not need to choose his pen…" Syuusuke said with his eyes open, watching Echizen intently as he destroys his opponent.

/

"What do you think, Tezuka?" Oishi asked him from their spot in the classroom window viewing the match happening in the tennis court.

"I don't tolerate anyone breaking the rules. Make everyone run laps." He said before turning his back from the scene.

"Eh? Even the regulars?"

"Everyone." He stressed as he walked away. He sighed inside his mind from all the headaches he is sure to have.

'Really, can't I take my eyes of him without him getting into some kind of trouble?' He guessed it can't be helped now. Echizen is already being targeted by the other members jealousy so there is really no point in avoiding singling him out. He will stand out from the others no matter what.

'I guess the only way to keep him from harm is to keep him close after all.' Kunimitsu thought as he made up his mind.

/

Ryoma tighten his hold on his racquet bag as he made his way out of the locker room. He was just happy to have found his racquets back beside his locker that he couldn't be bothered by the death glares Arai was sending his way.

"ITAI! (Ouch!) Ow ow ow!" though that shout stopped him for a second, he didn't waste time looking back.

If only he did, he would have found the looks of Arai and his lackeys' faces, after they put on their shoes only to step on the cactus leaves inside of it, totally hilarious. But even if he did, it is doubtful that he would have spotted that sadistic glee carefully hidden in Fuji's smile.

/

 **TBC**


End file.
